About Philosophy

2013 Tennessee Value and Agency "TVA" Conference

The Tennessee Value and Agency conference is an annual event aimed at encouraging philosophical conversation about topics pursued by established research clusters at the University of Tennessee Department of Philosophy.

If libertarianism about free will and moral responsibility is true, then people sometimes act freely and accountably without being causally determined to do so. Frequently maligned within the history of philosophy, this view has gained increasingly sympathetic attention among philosophers. But many stark questions remain, including:

How plausible is this view?

If our actions are not causally determined, how can we have control over them?

Why should we want our actions to be breaks in the deterministic causal chain?

The second annual Tennessee Value and Agency (TVA) conference will feature papers that engage these and similar issues relevant to the assessment of libertarian approaches to freedom and responsibility.

Keynote Speakers

Robert Kane

University Distinguished Teaching Professor
University of Texas at Austin